This article by James Barragán was published December 5, 2017 by the Dallas News.
Texas officials hoped to persuade federal appeals judges in New Orleans on Tuesday that the state’s latest voter identification law should be allowed to take effect.
A hearing at the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans centered on a law the Texas Legislature reworked in May after years of court battles.
Texas Solicitor General Scott Keller told a three-judge panel Tuesday that the Legislature fixed any constitutional problems with its voter ID law with a simple change: allowing voters who don’t have an acceptable ID to fill out a form stating they had a “reasonable impediment” to obtain one.
“We appreciated the opportunity to inform the 5th Circuit that the Legislature passed Senate Bill 5 last session to comply with the changes that this court ordered to the original voter ID law, Senate Bill 14, from 2011,” Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a written statement following the hearing. “Those who challenged the voter ID law cannot identify one person who faces a substantial burden to voting under the reasonable-impediment exception of the revised law. We’re hopeful the 5th Circuit will uphold Texas’ common-sense voter ID law.”
